A lawyer representing Martin Tripp has released a 10-page police report that he says raises new questions concerning a purported June 20 shooting threat to the Tesla Gigafactory near Reno, Nevada, where the technician worked until he was fired on June 15. The document was first reported by Bloomberg.

A month ago, Tesla sued Tripp for alleged trade secrets violations, and he has recently countersued, claiming that he has been defamed.

The report shows that a call expressing vague concern over what Tripp apparently might do, was somehow translated to law enforcement as a direct violent attack against the Nevada facility.

"How did it go from the call center to a very serious terrorist threat?" Stuart Meissner, one of Tripp’s attorneys, told Ars late Wednesday evening.“I think that’s a question that Tesla is going to have to answer in this litigation,” Will Fischbach, another one of Tripp’s lawyers, told Ars.

Meissner, who obtained the report from the Storey County Sheriff's Office under a state public records request, wrote on Twitter on Wednesday that Tripp may have even been set up.

I present the “GigaGate” Police Reports Re the Tesla Giga Factory Terrorist Threat Incident & what may turn out to B the “SWATing” of our client.
We have asked to reopen the investigation as to the source of the reported “threat.” Judge for yourself https://t.co/SYKpcQfjcl

A twisted tale

The initial shooting report story, which Tesla told Ars at the time, was that an anonymous male caller apparently called Tesla on June 20 and told a Gigafactory call center staffer that Tripp was "extremely volatile" and "heavily armed."

It now turns out that actually, according to the SCSO report, that a June 20 call was first received by a Tesla Las Vegas call center, and that information was forwarded to Gigafactory security in Storey County.

Then, Sean Gourthro, the head of Tesla Investigations, texted a Storey County law enforcement official, Chief Deputy Tony Dosen, to say that actually it was a woman who had called and added that Tripp was en route to "shoot up Tesla."

Gourthro also told the sheriff's department that Tesla was able to "verify the information in regards to Tripp being armed." (Tesla did not explain how it knew this.)

Later on the in the 10-page report, Shamara Bell, the Las Vegas call center staffer who received the initial call, told authorities that the now-male "caller stated that he had never heard Tripp directly make any threats regarding the Tesla Gigafactory."

However, according to the report, three separate deputies were dispatched to confront an "active shooter threat" at the Gigafactory on June 20, when in fact no such shooter existed.

"There’s so many things in here that raise eyebrows," Meissner added.

Lordy, there are tapes

Tesla and the SCSO spent several hours on June 20 trying to find Tripp, which they eventually did. The SCSO eventually concluded that Tripp was not armed and did not pose a threat.

In July, Tripp announced that he had hired Meissner, a New York attorney, to help him file a formal whistleblower complaint with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Tripp maintains that he has been trying to reveal what he claims are damaged batteries that made it to Tesla Model 3 cars now on the road.

For its part, Tesla has strongly denied that any such damaged batteries made it into any Model 3. The company has previously said in a statement that "Tripp is either not telling the truth or he simply has no idea what he is talking about."

Both Meissner and Ars have filed further public records requests in order to obtain the body-worn camera footage of the SCSO’s interview with Tripp, among other documents.

For some reason, however, Chief Deputy Dosen "did not retain" a copy of this original text message that Tesla sent him.

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Cyrus Farivar
Cyrus is a Senior Tech Policy Reporter at Ars Technica, and is also a radio producer and author. His latest book, Habeas Data, about the legal cases over the last 50 years that have had an outsized impact on surveillance and privacy law in America, is out now from Melville House. He is based in Oakland, California. Emailcyrus.farivar@arstechnica.com//Twitter@cfarivar

Look, I know we are all interested in Tesla and its goings-on but can we please not turn Ars Technica into Tesla TMZ? I don't look forward to having a he-said/she-said article every other day for the next six month as this case plays out.

I gotta ask... given everything we've learned about Musk's ego and apparent lack of self control in the face of a threat to his image or company, does anyone seriously doubt that he would be capable of ordering something like this?

I'm not saying he did it, I'm just saying it seems perfectly consistent with the dude's other behaviour.

I gotta ask... given everything we've learned about Musk's ego and apparent lack of self control in the face of a threat to his image or company, does anyone seriously doubt that he would be capable of ordering something like this?

I'm not saying he did it, I'm just saying it seems perfectly consistent with the dude's other behaviour.

I don't think he would do that. Musk lashes out verbally when he or his ego feel attacked but I've never seen him do something out and out immoral. Maybe he'll go on twitter and call him a pedophile but that's about it.

I gotta ask... given everything we've learned about Musk's ego and apparent lack of self control in the face of a threat to his image or company, does anyone seriously doubt that he would be capable of ordering something like this?

I'm not saying he did it, I'm just saying it seems perfectly consistent with the dude's other behaviour.

I suspect that Musk did not order this, but does preside over a culture of thinking you are above the law.

And given that Tesla has no business verifying the threat themselves, and the only way they could is by waiting for gunfire, what else could they be expected to do? Its a simple matter of not wanting people to get shot

I gotta ask... given everything we've learned about Musk's ego and apparent lack of self control in the face of a threat to his image or company, does anyone seriously doubt that he would be capable of ordering something like this?

I'm not saying he did it, I'm just saying it seems perfectly consistent with the dude's other behaviour.

I don't think he would do that. Musk lashes out verbally when he or his ego feel attacked but I've never seen him do something out and out immoral. Maybe he'll go on twitter and call him a pedophile but that's about it.

And that was apparently a fake account

Um, he publicly apologized for it. Are you suggesting he publicly apologized for something that was said on a fake account that wasn't him?

I gotta ask... given everything we've learned about Musk's ego and apparent lack of self control in the face of a threat to his image or company, does anyone seriously doubt that he would be capable of ordering something like this?

I'm not saying he did it, I'm just saying it seems perfectly consistent with the dude's other behaviour.

I suspect that Musk did not order this, but does preside over a culture of thinking you are above the law.

I suspect Tripp was exaggerating the hell out of whatever he was blowing the whistle on, but this?

Having a temper tantrum at the idea he would try to sue you is so very you, and creating a company where your subordinates would do that is even more you.

Indeed. Having a public mudslinging fight with one of your ex-employees looks awful, no matter who's in the right and who's lying. You should be above that. More importantly, your company should be secure enough in its position and reputation that the damn CEO himself doesn't have to come out and defend its honor in front of literally the whole world. The fact Musk doesn't think he's better than that is frankly terrifying.

I gotta ask... given everything we've learned about Musk's ego and apparent lack of self control in the face of a threat to his image or company, does anyone seriously doubt that he would be capable of ordering something like this?

I'm not saying he did it, I'm just saying it seems perfectly consistent with the dude's other behaviour.

I suspect that Musk did not order this, but does preside over a culture of thinking you are above the law.

I think you're probably right here.

I agree, the culture of the charistismatic leader easily propagates downwards, and the "What would Musk want us to do?" kicks in. Uber culture was similarly derived from their leadership.

I gotta ask... given everything we've learned about Musk's ego and apparent lack of self control in the face of a threat to his image or company, does anyone seriously doubt that he would be capable of ordering something like this?

I'm not saying he did it, I'm just saying it seems perfectly consistent with the dude's other behaviour.

I suspect that Musk did not order this, but does preside over a culture of thinking you are above the law.

This is somewhat off topic, but the Storey County Sheriff was subjected to a recall election recently over corruption allegations, supposedly made by one of the major real estate investors for the Reno Tahoe Industrial Center (where the Tesla Gigafactory is located.)

Storey County has a tiny population (like 4,000 people in the entire county), dramatically smaller than Washoe County next door, which has Reno and Sparks. I don't know how many sheriff's deputies they have, but I wouldn't be surprised if you could count them on two hands.

I agree with Albino_Boo that Musk most likely neither had knowledge of nor ordered the report to the police, and like him/her, I can also imagine that Musk has created a corporate culture that would lead some to believe that a course of action such as this was necessary to "protect" the company. Cultures like this aren't exactly new – the Nixon White House, for instance, had a very similar culture where breaking the law and skirting ethics was seen as justifiable in the pursuit of (what they believed to be) a higher purpose. It poisoned and ultimately doomed Nixon, and if Musk isn't careful, will do the same to him.

In both cases, the culture and pervading sense that the ends justify the means flow downward from the head. Musk, as brilliant and visionary a leader he seems to be, continues to be both the greatest asset Tesla has and also one of its greatest weaknesses. He needs to learn to temper his emotions – as seen in the pedophile brouhaha, they only serve to hurt him and make him look foolish.

I gotta ask... given everything we've learned about Musk's ego and apparent lack of self control in the face of a threat to his image or company, does anyone seriously doubt that he would be capable of ordering something like this?

I'm not saying he did it, I'm just saying it seems perfectly consistent with the dude's other behaviour.

I don't think he would do that. Musk lashes out verbally when he or his ego feel attacked but I've never seen him do something out and out immoral. Maybe he'll go on twitter and call him a pedophile but that's about it.

The story of Musk and Tripp is secondary to the cultural phenomenon on display, where, in the search for justice or help, things are blown out of proportion and overly criminalized, not unlike a spark setting of a bomb.

Ha, the population of Storey County apparently jumps 25% every morning when Tesla workers show up from Reno. And within a year or two, the number of workers will be 2.5X the population that actually live in the county. And Tesla is just one of the big employers that recently moved in.

I gotta ask... given everything we've learned about Musk's ego and apparent lack of self control in the face of a threat to his image or company, does anyone seriously doubt that he would be capable of ordering something like this?

I'm not saying he did it, I'm just saying it seems perfectly consistent with the dude's other behaviour.

I was thinking about this myself earlier. He does come off as somewhat unhinged at times and as having quite a temperament, so I wouldn't be entirely surprised if it turned out that this was all true and fully sanctioned by him. Alas, I try not to make any judgment either way until more evidence turns out -- he might just as well be truly innocent in all this.

lets say some random person- not management is the source of the threat, this is probable, at that point real or not there is nothing management could do other than report it to the police, after all whats worse, reporting a false alarm, or not reporting an actual threat?

Calling the police to a location where the subject isn't isn't "swatting." Even more so without a claim that a law has even been broken.

"I think Donald Trump may be heading to my house to shoot me! Please send help!"More than anything, this would be swatting myself.

"DONALD TRUMP HAS TAKEN CNN REPORTERS HOSTAGE IN THE OVAL OFFICE! HE TOOK A GUN FROM ONE OF HIS SECRET SERVICE AGENTS, SHOT THE OTHERS, AND TOOK HOSTAGES! HE KEEPS RAMBLING ABOUT 'FAKE NEWS' AND 'WITCH HUNT'! SEND HELP! THE ADDRESS IS 1600 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE!"This is swatting.

Tripp will first be employed on the 6th day of the 10th month of 2018, and will then subsequently be fired on the 6th day of the 15th month of 2018.

So all of this drama has yet to occur and we are only seeing it due to a rift in time-space when something big happens between now and the end of the year - when we suddenly get at least 3 more month added to the calendar.

And given that Tesla has no business verifying the threat themselves, and the only way they could is by waiting for gunfire, what else could they be expected to do? Its a simple matter of not wanting people to get shot

Tesla says that an anonymous male caller called Tesla on June 20 and told a Gigafactory call center staffer that Tripp was "extremely volatile" and "heavily armed."

Next, Sean Gourthro, the head of Tesla Investigations, texted a Storey County law enforcement official, Chief Deputy Tony Dosen, to say that actually it was a woman who had called and added that Tripp was en route to "shoot up Tesla.". Then Gourthro tells the sheriff's department that Tesla was able to "verify the information in regards to Tripp being armed." but did did not explain how Tesla knew this.

Next the Las Vegas call center staffer who received the initial call, told authorities that the now-male "caller stated that he had never heard Tripp directly make any threats regarding the Tesla Gigafactory."

Next three separate deputies were dispatched to confront an "active shooter threat" at the Gigafactory on June 20, when in fact no such shooter existed.

Investigation revealed that Tripp was not armed and was not a threat.

Tesla invented a shooter threat when in fact there was no shooter threat. No it was no a simple matter of not wanting people to get shot. So what else could they be expected to do?

Not invent stories by claiming they "investigated" is what they could they be expected to do but apparently Sean Gourthro has the same imagination delusional mental health issue that Musk has.

Tesla investigated .... my butt, they didn't investigate anything and made it up.

Look, I know we are all interested in Tesla and its goings-on but can we please not turn Ars Technica into Tesla TMZ? I don't look forward to having a he-said/she-said article every other day for the next six month as this case plays out.

This is news. If you don't want to read news about this sort of thing, don't read the news.